Bilingualism

[tovaris]

Speaking more than one language is becoming more and more useful in this age of globalization. People are encouraged by their environment to learn more and more foreign languages by their environment.
So what do you think should people learn more languages? Should they be taught is schools as mandatory? What languages do you speak? Your holistic opinion on the matter...

I myself am of the opinion that a person shoukd by the age of 15 speak at lest one foreign language, which should be taught in primary school (6-15) starting weary early with the teaching ~shish. If your courious I fluently can use 3,5 languages and am in the proces of learning two more.

[Tarannosaurus]

Yes I think learning more than one language is important as you can communicate with more people. Plus if you visit another country it's only polite to make an effort to try and speak their language. However I don't think that language learning should be compulsory, recommended yes, but my brother really struggles with his own language never mind other languages and it's really frustrating for him. My other brother also finds foreign languages extremely difficult. I think it's better to learn languages outside of school, I've been learning Irish in school for nearly 12 years and I can just about speak it, whereas I've been teaching myself Swedish for 2 years and can speak it just as well as Irish.

[tovaris]

Yes I think learning more than one language is important as you can communicate with more people. Plus if you visit another country it's only polite to make an effort to try and speak their language. However I don't think that language learning should be compulsory, recommended yes, but my brother really struggles with his own language never mind other languages and it's really frustrating for him. My other brother also finds foreign languages extremely difficult. I think it's better to learn languages outside of school, I've been learning Irish in school for nearly 12 years and I can just about speak it, whereas I've been teaching myself Swedish for 2 years and can speak it just as well as Irish.

Whel at leest one language should be taught in schools beside the mother toung, the populus has to be educated at leest in the basiks of one relevant language when they leave primary school at age 15.

[Harry Smith]

It's great in practice but they're pretty hard to teach. They need very well trained teachers and they don't often have priory over more academic subjects such as English and Maths. It would be great in practice if everyone talked another language but it's a lot harder to put into practice

[tovaris]

It's great in practice but they're pretty hard to teach. They need very well trained teachers and they don't often have priory over more academic subjects such as English and Maths. It would be great in practice if everyone talked another language but it's a lot harder to put into practice

It has alredy been put into praktice here, for quite some time now. Very easy, and not hard on the kids at all since the first year of so (dont knjw exactley they have changed it since my days) they dont get graded but are onky getting femiliar with the language. 6 years later they know how to use present perfect past perfect present continous............ and so many tenses ;)

[Vlerchan]

I do both French and Irish in school. Irish is ridiculously hard and woefully pointless so I haven't bothered with that for the last 12 or so years. French on the other hand is actually useful and I do put an amount of effort into that. It helps that French is thought a lot better than Irish - I'm at the stage where I can discuss unemployment and its solutions in French but can't give a few lines of my local area in Irish:/. On that: I would recommend pushing useful International languages - French; Spanish; Italian; German; Chinese; etc. - into the primary level curriculum. This isn't because its simply cool to be able to hold a conversation with French people on holidays - which it is - but rather a second and third language is becoming more and more useful in applying for a job - most third-level courses seem to try and push a language these days.

I personally speak fluent English, relatively good French, and an average level of Irish. I'm split op whether to take up extra modules on French or an entirely new language (most likely Chinese) in college next year.

[xChrisVx]

I am bilingual... sort of.

I learnt German at school for 8 years and I have a pretty good grasp of the language. I dare say that I know enough to get by in the country. I also learnt a little French at school, but only the basics and obviously, I'm fluent in English.

It is compulsory to take a modern language up to the age of 14 in Scottish secondary schools. It is also possible to take two languages beyond this age to specialise in. In my former school, the modern languages teachers are now going to the feeder primary schools to teach French to the youngest members in society. It is widely recognised that younger children are far more responsive to learning new skills than older children. I found this when I started to learn French as I found it much more difficult to grasp the language. I think this new initiative which my high school is piloting definitely gives modern languages a bright future in Scotland.

In my opinion, the initiative is definitely the way to go. I also think that Gaidhlig should be offered in every school because it is the traditional language of Scotland. I know it is a dying language, but I also feel that if it were to completely die out it would be damaging to Scottish culture. A culture is based on its language. Take away the language means to take away the culture and a perfect example of this is the Cornish language which was extinct by the 1800s.

Of course there are other benefits to both economy and people. You can't trade with another country if the people can't communicate and companies can cut costs on training if they employ bilingual people. And then people can travel to other countries confident that they will be able to communicate with the natives.

[tovaris]

I am bilingual... sort of.

I learnt German at school for 8 years and I have a pretty good grasp of the language. I dare say that I know enough to get by in the country. I also learnt a little French at school, but only the basics and obviously, I'm fluent in English.

It is compulsory to take a modern language up to the age of 14 in Scottish secondary schools. It is also possible to take two languages beyond this age to specialise in. In my former school, the modern languages teachers are now going to the feeder primary schools to teach French to the youngest members in society. It is widely recognised that younger children are far more responsive to learning new skills than older children. I found this when I started to learn French as I found it much more difficult to grasp the language. I think this new initiative which my high school is piloting definitely gives modern languages a bright future in Scotland.

In my opinion, the initiative is definitely the way to go. I also think that Gaidhlig should be offered in every school because it is the traditional language of Scotland. I know it is a dying language, but I also feel that if it were to completely die out it would be damaging to Scottish culture. A culture is based on its language. Take away the language means to take away the culture and a perfect example of this is the Cornish language which was extinct by the 1800s.

Of course there are other benefits to both economy and people. You can't trade with another country if the people can't communicate and companies can cut costs on training if they employ bilingual people. And then people can travel to other countries confident that they will be able to communicate with the natives.

You see this is what bathels me... you are scottish and live in scottland, how come you arent taught the language as primary, since it is (or at leest should be) your mother toung?

[Tarannosaurus]

Whel at leest one language should be taught in schools beside the mother toung, the populus has to be educated at leest in the basiks of one relevant language when they leave primary school at age 15.

It's not compulsory but the majority of people take a language at around 13 when they go to secondary school and foreign languages are needed for most uni courses except sciences. I stopped doing a foreign language this year because it was timetabled against my favourite subject.

You see this is what bathels me... you are scottish and live in scottland, how come you arent taught the language as primary, since it is (or at leest should be) your mother toung?

You see, making it compulsory doesn't actually keep it alive, for example Irish is compulsory all through school a lot of Irish people hate it and few can speak it fluently. I know people who've been learning Irish for 14 years and can't have a conversation in Irish, and if you asked them in a few years they wouldn't be able to say a single word. It would be a good idea to have Gaidhlig available in all schools but maybe not compulsory. Or I like the way in Wales you only have to do Welsh until age 16 (I think?).

[tovaris]

It's not compulsory but the majority of people take a language at around 13 when they go to secondary school and foreign languages are needed for most uni courses except sciences. I stopped doing a foreign language this year because it was timetabled against my favourite subject.



You see, making it compulsory doesn't actually keep it alive, for example Irish is compulsory all through school a lot of Irish people hate it and few can speak it fluently. I know people who've been learning Irish for 14 years and can't have a conversation in Irish, and if you asked them in a few years they wouldn't be able to say a single word. It would be a good idea to have Gaidhlig available in all schools but maybe not compulsory. Or I like the way in Wales you only have to do Welsh until age 16 (I think?).

Whele here a second language is a part of primary school programe, no escaping it. That language for njw is english since it is esier to learn than french (these two being the work languages of the eu). And the sistem could not function without it being taughr in primary school since english (+a nother language of choice)is again mandetory in secondary education (excluding three year vocational programs).

But what shokes me about irelands and scottlands case is that the mother toung is not present in schools (i cannot emagine how our schools woukd look like without the mother toung being taught and of course every other subject being taught in this wery toung). Thats in my opinion criminal, to robe a nation of its language.

Anwyhoo back to forein languages, tell me how on earth are yo6 going to understand stuf that is relevant for you when you dont understand any language than your own? I am of the opinion that a person should learn many languages in order to better understand the world around them. Even the basic knowlage of a second language can come in handy... that is why the mandetory second language in primary schools (6-15) is something i conpletly agree with.

[Vlerchan]

Thats in my opinion criminal, to robe a nation of its language.To force a redundant language on students in order to befit the agendas of long-dead nationalists is much worse. I wouldn't mind if there was some identifiable use to it or incentive to learn it but there really isn't. This has led to classrooms full of unhappy and bored students which is a poor learning environment for those who might actually want to genuinely learn the language - which is few and far between these days.

Irish also is present (and very much compulsory) in schools. I'm for making that optional, though.

[Tarannosaurus]

But what shokes me about irelands and scottlands case is that the mother toung is not present in schools (i cannot emagine how our schools woukd look like without the mother toung being taught and of course every other subject being taught in this wery toung). Thats in my opinion criminal, to robe a nation of its language. I don't know about Scotland but Irish is most certainly present and compulsory all through education. It is an option to be taught all subjects through Irish, one that will soon become available in my school, and there are some marks added on to the final score for doing the exam through Irish. Since I never went to a Gaelscoil where primary education is taught through Irish, this would be impossible for me. Also you can only get some humanities uni courses taught through Irish so it's more practical to do it in English, and I also want to do postgraduate study in Iceland and Sweden where English would be more useful.


Anwyhoo back to forein languages, tell me how on earth are yo6 going to understand stuf that is relevant for you when you dont understand any language than your own? I am of the opinion that a person should learn many languages in order to better understand the world around them. Even the basic knowlage of a second language can come in handy... that is why the mandetory second language in primary schools (6-15) is something i conpletly agree with.
But you misunderstand, I gave up French in school, the teacher was an imbecile anyway. I take afterschool classes in Mandarin once a week however it's not on the curriculum so it's not valid for uni. I teach myself Swedish and have begun teaching myself German so I'll be quite prepared for the big bad world. There's that saying "don't let school get in the way of your education."

[tovaris]

I don't know about Scotland but Irish is most certainly present and compulsory all through education. It is an option to be taught all subjects through Irish, one that will soon become available in my school, and there are some marks added on to the final score for doing the exam through Irish. Since I never went to a Gaelscoil where primary education is taught through Irish, this would be impossible for me. Also you can only get some humanities uni courses taught through Irish so it's more practical to do it in English, and I also want to do postgraduate study in Iceland and Sweden where English would be more useful.


But you misunderstand, I gave up French in school, the teacher was an imbecile anyway. I take afterschool classes in Mandarin once a week however it's not on the curriculum so it's not valid for uni. I teach myself Swedish and have begun teaching myself German so I'll be quite prepared for the big bad world. There's that saying "don't let school get in the way of your education."

That seems to be the case with french teechers, you should see my.
One can never teach themselves corsčect pronountiations, and self teaching (exept in race cases) isnt wery productive or structured, that is why "world" languages should taught in schools and cildren given the basics.

Ill get back to you both on the mother toung problem tomorov when i will create a thread especaly for the topic so that we dont drift to far in here.

To force a redundant language on students in order to befit the agendas of long-dead nationalists is much worse. I wouldn't mind if there was some identifiable use to it or incentive to learn it but there really isn't. This has led to classrooms full of unhappy and bored students which is a poor learning environment for those who might actually want to genuinely learn the language - which is few and far between these days.

Irish also is present (and very much compulsory) in schools. I'm for making that optional, though.

Ill get back to you both on the mother toung problem tomorov when i will create a thread especaly for the topic so that we dont drift to far in here.

[Tarannosaurus]

That seems to be the case with french teechers, you should see my.
One can never teach themselves corsčect pronountiations, and self teaching (exept in race cases) isnt wery productive or structured, that is why "world" languages should taught in schools and cildren given the basics.

Okay mother tongues tomorrow, it's true though self learning works better for me. My French teacher had a terrible accent. I learn pronunciation in free online courses and films or radio in the target language. Yes it's good for the basics, but even last year I found I had to start teaching myself to have a wide enough vocabulary for the exams. Plus with self learning you work at your own pace, the class at school was just repetitive and boring.

[Stronk Serb]

In my elementary, we did English for 8 years, and Italian for the last 4. Italian was a joke, because we started to get brain-raped with grammar since day one, according to the teaching plan, while in English, we learned about our first tense after 4 years, and by that time, a large part of the class could speak English well.

[xChrisVx]

You see this is what bathels me... you are scottish and live in scottland, how come you arent taught the language as primary, since it is (or at leest should be) your mother toung?

I would have loved to have been taught gaidhlig at school. It might have been different had it not been for the Acts of Union, but that's a different story all together :P

You see, making it compulsory doesn't actually keep it alive, for example Irish is compulsory all through school a lot of Irish people hate it and few can speak it fluently. I know people who've been learning Irish for 14 years and can't have a conversation in Irish, and if you asked them in a few years they wouldn't be able to say a single word. It would be a good idea to have Gaidhlig available in all schools but maybe not compulsory. Or I like the way in Wales you only have to do Welsh until age 16 (I think?).

Gaidhlig is an option to take forward, but only at a limited number of schools. I looked up the statistics for Gaidhlig and Gaelic (Learners) and the numbers were as follows:

Gaidhig Standard Grade (Equivalent to GSCE): 197
Gaidhlig Higher (Equivalent to A-Level): 117
Gaelic (Learners) Standard Grade: 309
Gaelic (Learners) Higher: 119

The Scottish Qualification Authority offers two courses in this language. The difference is that 'Gaidhlig' is designed for fluent speakers and Gaelic (Learners) is designed for learners (as the name suggests :P )

It should be remembered though that for English there were 45565 entries for Standard Grade and also 30401 entries for Higher...

This really does show just how dead the traditional Scottish Language is

[tovaris]

I would have loved to have been taught gaidhlig at school. It might have been different had it not been for the Acts of Union, but that's a different story all together :P




http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2623686#post2623686

[Tarannosaurus]

I would have loved to have been taught gaidhlig at school. It might have been different had it not been for the Acts of Union, but that's a different story all together :P



Gaidhlig is an option to take forward, but only at a limited number of schools. I looked up the statistics for Gaidhlig and Gaelic (Learners) and the numbers were as follows:

Gaidhig Standard Grade (Equivalent to GSCE): 197
Gaidhlig Higher (Equivalent to A-Level): 117
Gaelic (Learners) Standard Grade: 309
Gaelic (Learners) Higher: 119

The Scottish Qualification Authority offers two courses in this language. The difference is that 'Gaidhlig' is designed for fluent speakers and Gaelic (Learners) is designed for learners (as the name suggests :P )

It should be remembered though that for English there were 45565 entries for Standard Grade and also 30401 entries for Higher...

This really does show just how dead the traditional Scottish Language is

Ah I see Irish here is compulsory unless you have an exemption, which my mother told me I was eligible for after the Junior Cert exams :P Exemptions are hard to get though and I since I did the exam and have been learning it for 12 years I can't get one now. For the leaving cert we can do it at foundation/ordinary/higher level with 40% of the final mark for an oral exam. Foundation isn't counted for any colleges though. Irish is heading down that track too, hardly anyone remembers it after school. Apparently 94,000 people speak Irish daily but even when I went to a gaeltacht the only time I heard Irish was when it was mixed with English.

[Miserabilia]

I have my own language which is not a world language but still has a nice +/- 20 milion speakers.
But from a very young age I have been introduced with english (mainly thru media, games,movies etc.) so I am basicly bilingualism.
I think it's important to learn other languages, but still preserve your own.
For example, I see my own language dissapearing more and more every day, replaced by english.
It's frustrating, but I can't do anything about it ):

[tovaris]

Thank you all for you opinions so far but pleas stay on topic and if you wish to descus the mother language question peeas go to: http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showthread.php?t=198989

[Tarannosaurus]

I have my own language which is not a world language but still has a nice +/- 20 milion speakers.
But from a very young age I have been introduced with english (mainly thru media, games,movies etc.) so I am basicly bilingualism.
I think it's important to learn other languages, but still preserve your own.
For example, I see my own language dissapearing more and more every day, replaced by english.
It's frustrating, but I can't do anything about it ):

Think positive, +/- 20 million is better than 94 thousand :P

[Typhlosion]

In Brazil, at least one more language is required to be taught by law - either English or Spanish. The Brazilian SAT equivalent, ENEM, and tests for admission into universities either allow the candidate to choose between those two languages or just English. Currently, the number of foreign language questions is reduced, with no signs of growing larger.

It doesn't work well at all (mainly because 3-clause sentences are never seen and only grammar is learned) and the tests require basic reading skills. If you're lucky, you can read a children's book. But it's an incentive!

Yes, it is good to learn foreign languages, even at an early age (starting at 8?) as the globalized world is getting more diffuse on which culture's where and what business is where.

I speak both English, as a mother language, and Portuguese. But damn, 5 and 1/2 languages is a lot! :eek:

[tovaris]

In Brazil, at least one more language is required to be taught by law - either English or Spanish. The Brazilian SAT equivalent, ENEM, and tests for admission into universities either allow the candidate to choose between those two languages or just English. Currently, the number of foreign language questions is reduced, with no signs of growing larger.

It doesn't work well at all (mainly because 3-clause sentences are never seen and only grammar is learned) and the tests require basic reading skills. If you're lucky, you can read a children's book. But it's an incentive!

Yes, it is good to learn foreign languages, even at an early age (starting at 8?) as the globalized world is getting more diffuse on which culture's where and what business is where.

I speak both English, as a mother language, and Portuguese. But damn, 5 and 1/2 languages is a lot! :eek:

Every country has problems with their school stistem, i think that for foreign language teaching the un shoukd put forth general guie lines to help countris put foreing language teaching into achools.

5 you mean me? No i can only fluently use 3 but 5 is nothing, 12+ is a lot

[ciaran17]

I speak fluent English and Irish. Not really much use in England though.

[Cygnus]

Please do not post in threads with more than two months of inactivity :locked2: